R.I., Firm Look to Make Waves With Renewable Energy
By Timothy C. Barmann; Journal Staff Writer
The $45-million plan would have an Australian firm deploy wave farms off Point Judith and Block Island.
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NARRAGANSETT – State officials and an Australian energy company announced more details yesterday about a plan to develop two wave- energy facilities off the coasts of Point Judith and Block Island that would convert energy from the waves into electricity.
The facilities, to be built by Oceanlinx, based near Sydney, would cost up to $45 million, to be paid for by state general revenue bonds, said Andrew C. Dzykewicz, chief energy adviser to Governor Carcieri. That money would be repaid through the sale of electricity produced by the wave-energy machines, he said.
Yesterday, an executive from Oceanlinx, Governor Carcieri and other state officials held a news conference at the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay Campus to announce a “memorandum of understanding” that had been reached between the state and the company. The non-binding agreement outlines the company’s plans and the state’s willingness to arrange financing for the project.
“This is one of the very best responses we’ve had to our technology,” said Tom Denniss, founder and executive director of Oceanlinx. He credited elected officials in the state for being progressive thinkers who have taken the first step in making Rhode Island the epicenter of wave energy in the United States.
The details of both projects have yet to be worked out, including their precise costs, when they would be built, their locations, and cost of the electricity they will produce.
According to the memorandum, Oceanlinx would develop two projects. The larger one would be a “wave farm” consisting of 10 to 14 rectangular units that would float in an array “at a site to be determined” off Point Judith. The generating devices are about 90 feet long, 60 feet wide, and would reach up to 30 feet above sea level. They would be tethered to the sea floor by cables.
The facility would be capable of generating 15 to 20 megawatts, enough electricity to power 13,500 to 18,000 homes.
(By contrast, the natural-gas fired power generators at Dominion Energy’s Manchester Street Station in Providence have a capacity of 495 megawatts – about 25 times that of the proposed wave energy project.)
The project could begin generating electricity within 30 months of the financing being in place.
The company also proposes to build a smaller wave-energy project off the coast of Block Island to provide power solely to the island. That project would generate about 1.5 megawatts. That would be enough to power 1,350 homes.
But the project would only be built if representatives of Block Island agree that it would “benefit the community at a reasonable cost.”
Denniss declined to estimate how much the electricity might sell for, but he said he was confident it would be at or below the market price of power.
A typical customer in Rhode Island now pays about 14.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity, including delivery charges, taxes and other fees. National Grid has proposed a rate increase that would push that cost up to 15.3 cents per kilowatt hour as of Jan. 1.
Oceanlinx said it would agree to sell the power to Rhode Island electricity customers for a 20-year period, and the state would have the option to renew the purchase agreement for another 10 years.
The company said it would use the University of Rhode Island for analysis and research work to support the Rhode Island projects, as well as other Oceanlinx projects in the United States. Oceanlinx proposes working with URI to develop a center for the study and application of wave-energy technology at the university.
Oceanlinx also agreed to locate its East Coast business headquarters in Rhode Island, and will consider locating its manufacturing facilities in the state.
Before any construction could take place, the project would need the approvals of at least two agencies: the state’s Coastal Resource Management Council and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
It’s unclear how long permitting might take since neither agency has been asked to consider a wave-energy facility, Dzykewicz said. He estimates it could take a year or more.
The General Assembly and the board of directors of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation would have to approve any bond financing, Dzykewicz said
There are several technologies now used to convert wave energy into electricity. Oceanlinx uses a method known as an oscillating water column, in which the rising motion of a wave compresses air, forcing it through a turbine, which generates the electricity.
Denniss described the device as something akin to a giant teacup that has a hole in the bottom. Imagine that teacup turned upside down, he said, floating just above the water. The crest of a wave causes the water level inside the device to rise, which pushes out air through the hole, forcing blades to spin on an air turbine.
Using the oscillating motion of water trapped in a column has been used to capture energy for more than 40 years, Oceanlinx said. But the company says its devices are twice as efficient at generating electricity as similar devices due to a technique invented by Denniss. He designed a way for the turbines to take advantage of both the rising and falling motions of a wave. That feat is accomplished by a specially designed air turbine blade that changes its pitch just as a wave reaches its crest. As the wave falls, air is sucked back into the column and the wind turbine blades change their pitch, allowing the turbine to continue spinning in the same direction.
tbarmann@projo.com / (401) 277-7369
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Illustration: Electricity from wave motion
The Providence Journal / Tom Murphy
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